Productive Lives
by BurningPeace
Summary: Life is a show. Everyone is an actor. But what are actors really like behind the scenes and off the set? Some embody their characters, while some others are… not as much. But one thing matters, and that is how they all get along in the world. And ice cream. Ice cream always matters. Collab with Phoenix Commander
1. Opening Act

"No no no no no no!" Jaune shouted as Nora began to wind up. The rambunctious ginger, however, paid no heed as she smashed the ground beneath her, sending Jaune flying through the air. Following through her swing, she set her massive hammer beneath her own feet, firing once more and propelling herself directly at the large Grimm before her.

The massive Deathstalker absorbed the blow she delivered, sending her flying back to join Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ren. After gathering itself, the scorpion struck out at the bridge they stood on, causing the group to stumble as the bricks beneath them began to fall away.

"We need to move!" Jaune shouted, earning a nod from those around him. Taking off at a sprint, Pyrrha threw herself in front of the descending claw of the scorpion, stopping its progress with her shield while at the same time, opening it up for a strike of her own. Roaring in anger, the Deathstalker lifted its other claw, swinging down at the exposed huntress.

"Oh SHI…" came a startled cry, followed by a fleshy smack as Jaune Arc tripped over an exposed brick, and fell in front of the descending claw, earning a smack across the back of the head as the automaton met no resistance. The was a moment of silence, before a sharp snap echoed across the set.

"Cut! Cut! Mr. Arc, you were supposed to block the strike with your shield. What is so difficult about this?" Glynda chided after filling the air with a loud crack as she broke her clipboard over her knee. The majority of the staff stood around her, eyes wide as they stared at the broken halves still in her hands.

Ozpin sighed as he passed his assistant a new clipboard, "Could you please refrain from breaking another one today, Glynda? I don't believe I've brought enough this time."

"I will try, sir, so long as Mr. Arc can remember how his shield is supposed to work." The irate woman huffed.

"I believe that we need a fresh start at this. Take a break everyone, we will reshoot on set in fifteen minutes." Ozpin called out from his chair.

As the cast left the stage an audible sigh came from the refreshment table that was placed nearby for the cast and crew. A small cluster of actors stood around the table, the colors of their clothes helping them stand out from one another. One Weiss Schnee was scowling at her bottle of water, a few white strands of hair falling in front of her left eye, only making the scar across it all the more prominent. "I can't believe you forgot your choreography again, Jaune!"

"It's not my fault I froze! You didn't have an automaton going for you, it looks way too real!" The blonde actor retorted, his hand shaking a little. The shoulder even began to raddle against the chest piece as the shake made its way up his arm.

"THE CLAWS ARE PILLOWS PAINTED WITH RED MARKS!" Weiss shouted back, her skirt jumping a bit as she grounded herself. "We have to fight a fake, invisible, CGI BIRD, but you can't handle the scorpion in front of you?!"

"Easy there, Ice Queen, it's not like we're doing much better. We had to reshoot that fight six times because you kept missing your cue." Yang remarked, leaning back in a chair. Her long mane of unruly blonde hair falling over the back of the piece of furniture.

"What about the times you fell out of that bird's mouth?" A short brunette countered with a small smirk. "Or that time you insisted you could climb up the prop without the rope and ended up not taking the reinforced path? Or that time…" She cut herself off with a small yelp as her sister lunged for her, grabbing for the furry appendage sticking out from behind her.

"Alright, Alright I get it, Ruby!" The lilac eyed actress relented.

A raven haired actress chuckled softly, "You're one to talk, Kitten. You were so hyped up on sugar the other day we had to reshoot the dorm scene because you wouldn't stop bouncing around."

"I couldn't help it, I was excited! That was our first shoot all together!" Ruby replied with a whine, wrapping her cat tail around the waist of her accuser. "What about you, Blake? You somehow took three tries to blow out the candle this morning."

The actress held back a blush at the cat Faunus' move. "You know Sun switched them for trick candles! I had to waste a glass of perfectly good lemonade to put them out so we could get the right ones."

"And it was hilarious!" A voice called from a distance away as a blonde monkey Faunus struggled with the harness strapped around a short ginger girl. "Nora get your hand off the buckle! I can't get you free if you're holding onto it!"

"But it took SOOOOO long to get on! Just leave it, I'll work with it like this!" The short woman retorted before starting to force her way over the the snack stand. The tension rope behind her started to pull tight, but the ginger was not deterred in the slightest, grabbing onto anything she could that was grounded, pulling herself along. However, when she was about 10 feet away, the safety mechanism finally kicked in, launching the small woman backwards, away from her friends and the solace of food.

Ren sighed as he threw a bottle of water to her from the table and picked up a small plate of the food before walking over to his dangling girlfriend. "Next time I'd recommend getting out of the harness, Nora."

"I wonder if she's the reason the tension ropes seem kind of loose," Weiss said with a sigh. "I swear she does that once a day."

"I think it's just that the ropes themselves are pretty old," Blake replied between bites of a tuna sandwich, left out just for her.

"It is an older building," Weiss agreed. "But it has a lot of history, it's generally well maintained. Maybe we are just on the back end of their replacement cycle."

"Stage hands, clear the set! Actors, report!" Glynda's voice called out, significantly calmer as compared to earlier.

"That's our cue," Ruby said with a sigh, before turning to Blake. After a moment of staring, Ruby's face contorted as she tried to hold back her laughter. Confusion crossed everyone's face until they looked at Blake and couldn't hold it back themselves.

"What?" Blake asked, eyes darting around, then resting on her sandwich, wondering if something went wrong.

"We've hardly been off the set, how did you manage to do all that?" Ruby squeezed out between suppressed laughs.

Confusion crossed Blake's face, until she reached up and started to scratch the back of her head. Instantly, she noticed what everyone was laughing about. Currently, the bow affixed on the top of her head had fallen to the side, revealing a single cat ear. A cat ear that was twisted out if place, falling down next to her actual ear. The small foam prop had even managed to get bent inward, mimicking a hurt appearance.

"It was itchy, I guess I knocked it out of place. You know I hate this thing." The embarrassed actress grumbled.

"Just don't forget to put your contact back in this time," Ruby said jokingly, patting Blake in the small of the back. "We have some time till our next scene. Have Coco help you get it back in place."

"Not a bad idea, Sis. If anyone can keep us from making an _earor,_ it'll be Coco." Yang chuckled from her seat.

Ruby was taking a quick swig from her water bottle when her sister made the pun. She started coughing, water spraying every which way. "N-no, d-do not do that now please." The brunette begged between coughs as Blake patted her back to help stop her coughing.

Nora, however, seemed to have heard it as well. She stood in her place on set, her shoulders shaking slightly as she fought back the laughter. Her pale blue eyes started to bulge as she fought the urge to laugh.

"Places everyone!" Glynda called out before stepping back to allow Ozpin to take control.

"Action!" He called, only to be met with a rackous round of laughter on set. With the exception of Nora, the entirety of the set fell silent, turning to watch the small ginger double over with laughter. And then there was a loud snap, as yet another clipboard cracked beneath the anger of one Mrs. Goodwitch.

* * *

"I still cannot believe that glare Goodwitch gave you for the rest of the day, Nora!" Yang laughed loudly as the group entered a local ice cream parlor.

Nora chuckled as she threw herself into a booth, "Hehe, well how could I help it? Earor was too good!"

"Was it though?" Weiss asked confusedly. "I don't think she put any actual thought into it."

"She never does," Blake agreed.

The lilac eyed actress feigned indignation, "Et Tu Blakey?! I always make the best puns!"

"Only when you're trying to kill me, Yang." Ruby chimed in, sliding into the booth opposite Nora.

"Wow, what did you do to make her hate you so much then?" Pyrrha quipped, a small smirk showing on her lips as she pulled a chair to the end of the table.

Blake slid into the booth next to Ruby, her blue and amber eyes sparkled as she replied, "She only tried to choke my girlfriend with a bottle of water. This time."

The tables echoed in laughter as the rest of the group slid into place, with Jaune and Pyrrha sitting at chairs they had pulled up. As the laughter died down at the round booth, Jaune suddenly seemed to notice a discrepancy.

"Wait, I thought Ren was going to meet us here? Where is he?"

The table settled down and cast their eyes about the parlor and as far down the street as they could see. "Thats a good point," Ruby agreed. "I thought he would be here by now."

"I heard he was going to met with some new cast members, maybe they just got caught up in traffic," Weiss suggested with a shrug. "Let's just order, since we don't know how long it will be until they get here."

After a few minutes a waitress walked up to their booth, "Big event planned today?" She asked.

"You could say that. We just got off work for the day and figured we'd all talk over how it went with a dessert or two." Weiss replied with a small shrug.

"As good a reason as any," The waitress agreed with a chuckle. "Who would like to go first?"

There was a moment of silence before Ruby started her order, and the group slowly began to work its way around the table, ordering from dark chocolate and cookie dough to cotton candy with gummy bears.

And then it arrived on Weiss. Taking a deep breath, Weiss began with "And I will have a dual order of the hidden menu special number seven and a Mountain Glenn supreme, volcano style. Both in Behemoth sizes."

The waitress had kept up in the beginning, but as Weiss had gone on, her eyes slowly started to widen, and a look of shock was just barely suppressed on her face. It took her a few moments to realized when Weiss had finished, before quickly apologizing and asking Weiss to repeat the order. Weiss compiled, as if she were used to this reaction.

"I haven't seen a range of orders like that in a while. I'll have them all out shortly." The waitress said still a little shocked at the amount of food that would be brought out.

A few moments passed as the waitress brought the order to the counter, then a shout from one of the workers could be heard from the table, "Weiss! We've talked about this before! You can't keep eating our whole shipment in one order!"

There was a moment before Weiss shouted back, "You won't let me take to-go anymore! I need to get what I can!"

"Didn't she literally buy twenty gallons straight from the freezer last time we were here? Where does she put it all?" Nora whispered across the table to Ruby.

The brunette glanced at the alabaster haired actress, "She ate it all. What I'm still trying to figure out is how she still looks that good."

"Hey now, you're not thinking about having a little bit of Heiress on the side are you, Kitten?" Blake asked, nudging Ruby jokingly.

"No, but if I asked her to join us you'd probably lose your mind." The cat Faunus chuckled, drawing a blush from her girlfriend.

As the group of friends continued to banter back and forth, a chime at the door announced the arrival of Ren, followed closely by a tall rabbit Faunus with dark brown hair and shorter long haired brunette with vibrant green eyes. "Sorry we're late everyone, we were held up in traffic." Ren said, pulling up a few more chairs just as the dessert arrived. "I'd like you all to meet Velvet Scarlatina and Neo, they're going to be joining the cast and before you say anything, yes, I know it's a little sudden. But I'm making the call for this."

In response to this, Yang gave a lazy shrug, before saying, "Man, this show is your brain child, you can do whatever you want. If we think something is stupid, trust us, Nora will say it aloud without giving it any thought."

Nora, caught with a spoon already in her mouth, simply gave a thumbs up. "I guess she approves." Blake said, arching an eyebrow slightly. "Welcome to our crazy little family."

"Wow, your eyes…" The rabbit Faunus muttered, before realizing she had said it aloud and quickly flushed red. "I mean… uhhhh… thank you for having us, we look forward to working with you!"

The shorter brunette nodded as well, before turning to the waitress, pointing to Weiss's two dishes, and saying "I'll have that."

The waitress, still unsettled by the orders she had already placed, hardly reacted at all, simply nodding and looking towards the other two newcomers, taking their orders as well.

Once the waitress left, the group's attention turned fully to the newcomers, particularly Weiss to Neo. "Well this is a first. I don't think anyone has ever matched my order before."

Neo smiled in return, and said "And I've never met anyone else with quite such a taste. I've been meaning to try number seven, but I always get myself caught up on number four."

"WEISS, I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU! YOU CANNOT ORDER SECONDS!" Came a shout from the counter.

"That's not for her, it's for me!" Neo shouted back.

"DAMN IT, NEO! NOT YOU TOO! WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?!"

"About thirty seconds ago! It's either number seven or number four, take your pick!" The emerald eyed woman shouted her reply. "Just don't forget the Mountain Glenn!"

The group burst out into laughter once more, causing everyone in the parlor to turn and look at them. Even passersby seemed to feel the joyful vibe coming from the table, and quite a few of them came in. Including one surprised monkey Faunus.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Sun called out as he came through the double doors, a wide smile on his face.

"Weiss drug us along here last week, and it's looking like this is going to be our new thing," Yang replied easily. "Apparently, she knows every ice cream place in town, and isn't allowed back in half of them."

"Apparently, informing them that their topping to ice cream ratios favors the ice cream far too much is considered 'in bad taste.'" Weiss added, unaware of her pun.

Nora was mid-swallow of a spoonful of her ice cream, she quickly reached for a napkin. After a brief coughing fit, she laughed out, "MY NOSE FEELS LIKE IT'S FULL OF ICE! WHY DO YOU DO THIS, WEISS?!"

The look of utter confusion on Weiss's face brought another round of laughter from the table, causing Sun to nearly double over clutching his sides. Yang, seeing he was about to collapse, scooted over, pressing Weiss up against Blake, and with a long reach, pulled Sun into the seat next to her before he collapsed.

"Easier there, Tree Climber. Don't go falling apart on us now. You know we can't trust Neptune with that boom mic."

Yang had a grin on her face as she looked around the table, expecting people to laugh about her last joke. Instead she was met with a few shocked faces and quite a few heads buried in their owners hands. After a brief moment, it dawned on Yang exactly what went wrong.

"NO NO NO! It's not like that! Sun was a helper at one of my stunt training sessions! And during breaks, he would always climb straight to the top of the nearest tree and take a nap! I call him that because he once challenged me to race up the tree and utterly destroyed me!"

Sun, finally recovering from his laughing fit, slapped a palm on the table and started laughing harder. "I keep… telling you… Fireball! How many… times has… this happened? I like it, but no one gets it the first time they hear it!"

Sun's laughter eased the table a bit, brining a smile to the faces of those closest to the two. When Sun finally recovered, he pushed himself up to a sitting position and gave Velvet and Neo a warm smile. "Sorry about that. I'm Sun, I'm a stagehand on set. I look forward to working with you." Both the girls nodded and muttered their greetings. At this moment, the ice cream for Ren, Neo, and Velvet arrived, causing the two girls to dig in with delight.

Ren, on the other hand, was eyeing Sun with interest. "So you free climb trees? How often do you do that?"

"Hmmm?" Sun was surprised initially at the question, before recovering and replying, "Oh, yeah, all the time. I was at that stunt camp as a free running volunteer. If there is something to climb or something to hurdle, I've probably already done it."

"Is that so? Meet me on set tomorrow before we start shooting, I've got a few things planned I might need your opinion on." The dark haired writer said.

As she finished her mouthful of ice cream, Nora chimed in, "Just don't be there too early. If I see you asleep at your desk again, Ren, then I'm locking you in our apartment till you're sleeping like a normal person!"

Once the laughter died down again, the group fell into an easy sort of silence, as everyone enjoyed some ice cream, with Sun stealing some from Yang. Velvet, feeling more comfortable with the group as the conversation carried on, asked, "So how did everyone here get into show business?"

Yang, while Sun was taking some of her ice cream, smiled lightly and said, "I'm actually a stunt double. Haven't gotten any huge parts yet, but I've been working my way up the food chain. I'm only taking a lead role here because I happen to know the lead writer," Yang paused to give Ren a knowing look. "Apparently, the role was something I was born to play."

"What can I say? I based your character around Goldilocks and you do fit the role rather well." Ren said, shrugging slightly.

Ruby piped up as her spoon clattered into her empty bowl, "I started out in film and production actually. But then Yang, in one of her acting classes, met a certain someone." Ruby paused to nudge Blake in the shoulder. "Yang introduced me to Blake after their project, and she was the one who got me into acting. A few classes later, and a diploma, and here I am." The brunette sighed, a little disappointed, her tail wrapping lightly around Blake subconsciously. "And not much taller than I was then."

"And yet you can still outrun all of us as if we were walking," Blake said easily, giving Ruby's leg a comforting squeeze under the table.

"Yeah, there is that," Ruby said sheepishly, her hand resting on top of Blake's.

"Guess its my turn then," Blake said with a chuckle in her voice. "Do you remember that really old drama years ago, 'Chasing the Cattails?'" This drew blank stares from most everyone around her. "Don't feel bad, most people haven't. It wasn't very good. But, as a long shot, my parents let me apply for the child role. And, I got it. Strangely enough, critics said I was the only good part of that movie. I got a decent amount from it, and even received a single commercial deal. Then my parents decided, rather than cut me off from the world and have me just focus on being an actor, they wanted me to have an actual life."

"That's good on them," Velvet said with a nod. "A lot of parents might have tried to force their children to keep going."

"I'm glad they did it, but I still wanted to be an actress. So, using the money from my two gigs, they paid for an acting tutor through my high school years, and then sent me off to Kuroyuri Academy, and I entered the acting program. Thankfully, I had been out of the scene for long enough I was able to lay low and slip under the radar as an established actress. While there, I met Yang, who introduced me to Ruby, who introduced me to Weiss, and brings us all the way back to Ren." Looking at Weiss for her to take over, Blake had to do a double take.

Neo and Weiss had finished both of the Mountain Glenn supremes that they had ordered and were halfway through the number sevens. But what shocked her and the rest of the table the most was that the diminutive pair was keeping pace with each other. "Whaa… How… I haven't seen anyone keep pace with Weiss before." Jaune said, shocked almost into silence.

"Probably because Neo enjoys ice cream just as much, Jaune." Pyrrha quipped, sliding her bowl to the side of the table.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Velvet asked with a laugh.

Nora chuckled, as she tapped Weiss on the shoulder, "Weiss, come on up for air. It's your turn to tell Velvet and Neo how you got into show biz."

"Mmhhrr? Oh, sorry." Weiss said, swallowing her mouthful of ice cream. "My family has been working in the film industry ever since my grandfather got into the business. So as you can imagine I kind of grew up around people who worked in cinematography. My sister actually is the lead producer of RWBY."

Once Weiss finished, Sun realized that, as if on cue, all eyes had turned to him. Giving a small smirk, he leaned back in his seat and put his hands behind his head, his shirt opening up to reveal his muscled torso. "I just needed a job. Living in the area, being a stagehand was just the easiest way to a stable job. Schnee Productions needed someone who could go all day carrying heavy equipment. I didn't build up these abs just for show." It was at this moment that Yang's elbow crashed into Sun's gut, knocking the air out of him.

"You've got the abs, that should have been nothing!" Yang laughed. "I'll show you how it should be! Go on, try me! Punch my abs!"

The group watched as Sun, without holding back, struck Yang in the gut, only earning a small flinch and a wink. "That all you got?" Yang teased.

Sun returned the smile, straightening up and visibly flexing once more. "Fine then, take another shot. You won't do much better."

The group gradually lost interest, as the two blondes proceeded to punch each other in the stomach repeatedly, neither one wanting to give way first. The table skipped over Ren, because his presence in the industry was obvious to anyone involved. And that, landed them on Neo.

Shaking her head with a chuckle, Neo focused her attention on the others, "I guess that makes me next. Not too much to say really, I've always had a love of gymnastics and that opened me up to doing stunts, parkour, martial arts, that sort of thing. A couple of bad calls by me had my dad at wits end and I wanted to do better, make up for past problems I caused y'know? My old man did help where he could of course. I took a few acting classes and here I am."

Next to her sat Jaune and Pyrrha, who both looked at each other, and laughed. "We actually just happen to be locals," Pyrrha said lightly. "We both applied for roles, ended up doing a test screen together, and got picked as characters. Ren just changed the names to match ours. Said something about how it was meant to be."

Nora, having just finished her ice cream, chose this moment to interject. "I'm actually the odd one out here. I know, you never would have guessed. But I started as a physical therapy major, and had nothing to do with film. But one day, the stunt double class managed to convince our department to wait on site as trainers and light injury personnel. And while we watched the maniacs throw themselves in front of cars, I noticed Ren watching too. I talked to him, he talked to me, we started dating, and he wrote me a part!"

The table laughed at Nora's candid response, but at the same time, all eyes turned on the last remaining party. Velvet sat at the end of table, enthralled by the stories. By the time she noticed that everyone was watching her, the laughter had long since died down.

"Oh me?" Velvet asked, pointing to her chest as she spoke. "Oh I'm nothing special. I just applied for a small role. Single line, two appearances, that sort of thing. But Ren came up to me afterwards, and started talking to me about long term plans for my character. Most of it went over my head, but from what I can tell, he really enjoyed my one line reading." Velvet laughed lightly, a slight blush coming over her face.

"Don't sell yourself short," Ren cut in, a small smile on his lips. "That one line was just to see who would apply for the character. It embodies the character. It displays who they are as a person, and how they would react in such a situation. I always had big plans for your character, it just had to be the right person in the role."

"I... Um... Thanks." The rabbit Faunus said, hiding her eyes behind her ears in embarrassment.

Ruby's voice disturbed the quiet words of encouragement from the others, "Weiss, no more. You're going to make yourself sick and the last thing I want to be doing tonight is scrubbing the stench of vomit out of my tail!"

"But it's all right there. I'll pay for it, they know I will." The blue eyed actress said, starting to stand up.

"Yep, we crossed that line. YANG, stop punching Sun and help me out here!" The silver eyed cat Faunus cried, her tail fluffing out in irritation.

Yang, on hearing her sister's voice, stopped her punch mid-swing, turning around and seeing the look in the young heiress' eyes. "Oh not this again…"

In an single movement, Yang grabbed Weiss's arm, stepped out of the booth, and lifted the smaller woman over her shoulder. With Weiss yelling and kicking, she made her way to the counter, and with a small nod behind her, she said "Ren will cover us." With that, she turned and made her way out the door, Weiss shouting at her to put her down.

While all of this was happening, and while Ren was paying, no one noticed a small brunette step behind the counter in a completely confident manner, and make her way to the freezer in the back of the store. As the group turned to leave, the green eyed brunette slipped back into place, carrying two tubs of ice cream, one neapolitan, and one blueberry.

Twenty minutes later, a cry of alarm went up in the back room. The missing ice cream had been noticed. And in their places rested two fifty dollar bills. Thirty dollars more than the ice cream was worth. Nonetheless, the manager swore, loudly, and for the rest of the night, insisted that there would be hell to pay next those two came in.

* * *

It was a few blocks, and a quite a few strange looks, before Weiss calmed down enough for Yang to put her down. Weiss indignantly straightened out her jacket and smoothed her blouse flat, ignoring the chuckles behind her.

"I don't know why Yang stopped, we were enjoying the show," Blake said with a laugh, only to receive a light elbow from Ruby.

"Maybe because she would have ended up hitting her with her purse again? I wonder what she keeps in it to hurt so much? Maybe buckles?" The cat Faunus pondered aloud.

It was at this moment that Neo slipped through the crowd of people to rejoin the group, silently handing Weiss the tub of blueberry ice cream. Weiss stood in shock for a moment, starting are the plastic tub in her hand, before suddenly throwing her arms around the shorter woman.

"I don't know what you did, or how you did it, but today you have become one of my favorite people," Weiss whispered in the brunette's ear.

"Don't mention it," Neo whispered back, before the two disengaged, holding their treasures close to their chest.

There was a moment of silence as the group all stared at the two girls, not quite sure what they had just seen. A couple of them had seen the small plastic bin transition from one girl to the other, but beyond that, they couldn't tell what had happened.

Sun was the first one to break the silence. "Soooo… Velvet, what were you saying about needing a place to stay? Because I know Yang has an empty bedroom she has been looking to rent out."

"I was actually just about to ask about that," Ren said lightly. "The company is currently housing both Velvet and Neo in a hotel, but if any of you can take them in, I would greatly appreciate it."

"No, that's great!" Yang said excitedly. "I've been looking for a new roommate ever since Ruby moved out!"

"Yang, you and I both know that apartment can't fit more than two! That and you know I still visit almost everyday!" The silver eyed cat Faunus interjected.

"But it does make for some killer parties," Sun cut in.

"Sun, don't go getting any big ideas. It can still hardly hold the group, we don't need you to try to invite a few dozen people again. The landlord is still mad at me." Yang replied flatly.

"But it was fun though," Sun said with a wink. "But that solves one problem, if Velvet wants it."

"I'd have to look at it first, of course," Velvet replied shyly. "But if Yang will have me, I'd be happy to accept."

"Of course you're welcome, roomie!" Yang laughed, throwing her arm around Velvet.

"One down, one to go." Ren chuckled. "What about you Neo? Do you have any plans yet?"

Weiss cleared her throat, while trying to hide the tub of ice cream Neo had handed her, "Actually, ever since I moved out of Qrow and Winter's place my afternoons and nights have been rather… well boring. Neo I have plenty of space in my apartment, if you're willing?"

Neo coughed, as she hid her tub of ice cream, a little surprised at the offer, "Are you sure about this? Not that I don't appreciate the offer, I mean. I really do. But we just met today, and I don't want to intrude. Its your place, I'm sure you're not used to having a flatmate, and I would feel so bad if you were forcing yourself to do this. I mean-."

"Positive," Weiss said, cutting her off. "Besides if for some reason you get tired of me, I'm pretty confident we could find you another apartment."

"Alright then. If you're sure. Let's give it a shot." The green eyed acrobat said, shrugging slightly. "Thank you," she whispered much more lightly.

"The ice cream is thanks enough." The alabaster haired actress whispered in reply.

The group walked for a short distance more, until Ruby and Blake stopped on a corner, hugging people goodbye and saying farewell to their new coworkers. It wasn't long before the couple disappeared around a corner in the opposite direction as the larger group trudged on. Yang and Velvet left next, with Yang insisting on having Velvet test drive the apartment tonight.

"Alright this is where I leave you guys too. I've got a few friends to meet up with before I head home." Sun said, nodding to nearby bar.

"Just make sure you still show up tomorrow before we start shooting. I was serious about wanting your opinion." Ren said, nodding slightly, with some difficulty as Nora had effectively taken the use of one of his arms.

"I will, catch you all bright and early!" The monkey Faunus said, waving as he entered the bar.

The remaining group carried on for a short distance before coming to once last corner and turning to face each other. Ren smiled and was about to say something, when he noticed exactly what it was that the girls were carrying.

"Weiss, Neo," Ren said flatly. "Please tell me those are at least paid for."

"Of course I paid for them. I mean, I did get them from the freezer, but they are paid for." Neo replied, without a hint of remorse.

Ren was at loss for words at the brazen act, the most he could manage to convey his displeasure was a deep frown. "Lighten up, Renny. Neo paid for the ice cream, it's not like she robbed a bank or held up an orphanage." Nora said, poking the writer lightly in the cheek after a minute.

Ren didn't say anything for a few moments as he just stared at the two girls across from him, neither one of them ashamed about what they had done. Eventually he sighed and said, "Fine. I still think we aren't going to hear the end of it from that manager, though. He's already annoyed with you."

"Oh he'll be fine," Weiss laughed as she waved her hand dismissively. "I know I already keep that store in the black by myself, so I think they can let this slide."

"Just… just don't let me see it happen again. I don't want to be held as an accomplice if either of you get in trouble. And that goes for you too Nora." The pink eyed man said, looking pointedly at each of the three women.

Weiss and Neo both looked at each other and then at Ren before answering almost in unison, "No promises."

"Then I guess that will have to do. We'll see you both tomorrow on set then, hopefully Glynda will have more than two clipboards around. The next scene has… more intensive choreography than the last." Ren sighed, as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.

There was a collective groan as all of them remembered exactly how well the day had gone. Even Neo, who had been a casual observer, could already feel her heart sink.

"But that is another day," Ren said lightly. "You two get some rest, enjoy the night. Neo, let me know if it doesn't work out, I can work with you to find something. And please, for the love of everything I have worked for. PLEASE, do not eat all of that ice cream in one sitting."

Weiss and Neo shared one more collective glance, before smiling and replying, "No promises."

As Weiss and Neo walked around the corner Nora let her feet start to drag. "Carry me?" She asked, giving her boyfriend her best puppy impression.

"Sure." He replied, unable to hold back a small smile as he swept the orange haired woman up into his arms and continued to walk down the block toward their home.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **BurningPeace: I'm sorry… I think I need a moment to deal with this.**

 **Phoenix Commander: I don't and I'm not apologizing for this. Mostly because it gets you writing again and because let's face it we are going to have a lot of fun with this.**

 **Peace: But its just so… meta.**

 **Phoenix: At least it's not breaking the fourth wall.**

 **Peace: In the most roundabout way possible. This is what I get for drinking with you.**

 **Phoenix: I'm just happy we finally got this started. I mean we've literally been planning this since April!]**

 **Peace: I'm sorry, what part of me makes you think I work fast anymore?**

 **Phoenix: I blame your day job. We also have that other thing we need to work on too.**

 **Peace: Its on the list. Along with this, my other two stories, and sleep.**

 **Phoenix: As I told you, as long as we write one day a week I won't complain. And neither will our versHIon of the cast.**

 **Peace: I write every day of the week. Unfortunately, sometimes it's only like a dozen words. That I delete the next day. BUT IT HAPPENS DAMMIT!**

 **Phoenix: Come on you're having fun working with me and you know it.**

 **Peace: Of course. It's not like I left a hidden code in the story for people to find what basement you are keeping me locked in. I get fed daily, why would I do that.**

 **Phoenix: … I actually have no words for that. But we are starting to ramble.**

 **Peace: Were we doing anything else?**

 **Phoenix: No, but I don't think our readers need to see this devolve into a drunk writing spree. We should save that for when we're working on another chapter.**

 **Peace: I look forward to it. Until then, I hope that everyone here has enjoyed the chapter. Let us know what you think, be it by review, follow, favorite, or just pming one of us. We'd love to hear your thoughts.**


	2. Move in Day

"What did I tell you?"

"Not now Ren," Weiss groaned.

"You didn't listen, did you?"

"We told you that we wouldn't make promises." Neo groaned, her hands clutching her abdomen.

"What's wrong with our two half pints?" Nora asked, cocking her head to the side and ignoring a distant boo from Yang who was over at the refreshments table.

"They both ate full pints of ice cream before even coming here, again." The pink eyed writer sighed.

"And we don't regret it!" Neo declared, while still unable to bring herself to stand up straight.

"Really? Is that why Weiss could barely keep herself upright during the 'Slumber Party' scene? Or why you miscued Yang during the 'Landing Strategy?'" Velvet asked, one ear quirked questioningly.

"Hey, that turned out fine. She didn't break the prop at least." Neo insisted.

"That really isn't the point, Neo. Just please, I need you all to be ready to shoot each day; because if you aren't then this will only take longer. The longer it takes, the harder it is to keep funding." Ren said, growing a little frustrated. It was almost midday and they had barely finished two of the five planned scenes.

"Stop worrying, Ren," Weiss said, bringing herself to her full height, and just barely maintaining eye contact. "It's a one time thing. Neo is just a bit worse off because she stayed on the couch last night. She liked the apartment, and the hotel was too far away, so she decided to move in on the spot. We're picking her stuff up tonight."

"Perhaps that will keep the two of you out of trouble then," Ren sighed before turning to Velvet. "What about you? Did you like the room Yang has to offer?"

"I loved it. There was plenty of room, and the kitchen was wonderful. There was so much counter space, and she even had a stacked oven! I already have so many plans about what I want to make! Tonight, I was thinking about making a vegetarian stir fry with a side of quinoa, you know, as kinda a thank you to Yang for taking me in. I think I'll make extra too, bring some in for the crew. How many do we have on set? One… two… oh my," Velvet rambled, her once perked up ears now drooping when she realized exactly how many she was planning to cook for.

"Easy there, Velvet, I don't think Yang has enough ingredients to make enough for everyone. It might be best to just stick to cooking for the two of you." Blake smirked as she passed Neo and Weiss a bottle of water. "Drink it, both of you. But slowly, I don't think Klein would appreciate having to resuscitate you because you nearly drown yourselves."

"Not to mention Ms. Winter would be displeased as well. And we both know she doesn't need to be stressed out right now." A short middle aged man with rusted hair said as he joined the group. Not only was the man a retired EMT working with the production crew, Klein was also a butler working for the Schnee family.

"I appreciate that Klein, but there is not much to be done. After all, my own sister can't seem to hold herself back when it comes to that frozen treat even if her career depends on it," a tall, white haired woman said calmly as she approached the group. "This isn't even the worst I have seen her. Her eighth birthday party was held at an ice cream parlor, and they offered all you can eat ice cream to birthday children. Most of the time, the ice cream wouldn't even make it to the table, she would just get back in line and eat it there."

"Winter, I thought I asked you to stop telling people about that," Weiss complained, shooting her sister a glare.

"And I thought I told you to stop just taking ice cream from their freezers, but who called me last night? Again?" The older Schnee informed, giving her younger sister a frown.

"But it wasn't me this time!" Weiss argued. "You can ask anyone! Yang carried me out of there empty handed."

"Oh, I know," Winter replied flatly, turning her gaze on Neo. "This time, it was your brand new sidekick that decided they couldn't just wait to get more the next day. And now, you are both paying for it."

"Indeed they are, though we weren't expecting you to come by today, Winter. What's the occasion?" Blake asked, interested at why their producer had come by.

"I mostly just needed to get out of the office. And decided to come by here to see how things were progressing. I'm honestly glad I did, because now I have the urge to dig up a few of Weiss' older and more embarrassing photos." The blue eyed producer said, her frown turning into the ghost of a smile as she teased her little sister.

Weiss, as if receiving a second wind, suddenly straightened up and started moving towards set, clearly avoiding eye contact with Winter. "Well, it's about time then! Ren, what's the next scene again? Is this the first morning in the dorm scene? Welp, we're already in costume for that, let's get ready!"

Winter just shook her head watching her go, chuckling lightly under her breath. "Predictable as always."

"She's not wrong though, we do need to get back to work. I'll keep you updated as we go, Winter." Ren said as he began to wander towards the set.

"Of course, Ren. Hopefully the rest of the day goes smoothly." The alabaster haired producer said, giving the man a small smile before leaving the studio.

"Nora, you can clear the set, I believe that Yang doesn't need that much help getting into her bed!" Goodwitch called out, trying to set the scene. "Blake, you're bow is about to fall off again!"

"Where did Coco go?" A stagehand called out.

"I'll get her!" Sun shouted, passing the boom mic to his blue haired companion before turning and vaulting over a railing. "She just went to her trailer!"

"Blake, would you mind helping to set the scene while Mr. Wukong retrieves Ms. Adel from her trailer?" Ozpin asked, the grey haired director's voice carrying easily from his chair to the set. "If memory serves this is the scene with the whistle, so Ms. Rose, Ms. Schnee, do remember your ear plugs."

"We've got'em in already, Director!" Ruby called from her position near the set's bunk beds, slightly too loud for those around her.

"Found Coco!" Sun called out as the fashionable brunette rushed onto set, small makeup kit in hand.

"Every time, Blake. I swear, you try to do this," The makeup artist muttered as she carefully glued the ear back in place.

"Just so I can talk to you, Coco. I could always use some good girl advice," Blake said playfully.

"Yeah, yeah, everyone wants the fashion queens advice on something. Boys, girls, faunus, and everything in between," Coco muttered, sticking the ear back in place. "Ok, we're good!" Coco called out, jogging off set.

"Places everyone!" Goodwitch called out, before stepping back behind Ozpin.

"Cameras!" There was the click of the clapboard as the camera's focused in on the scene.

There was a moment of silence as everyone held their breath, trying not to make a sound. Until one voice called out, "And, ACTION!"

* * *

"Just how do you not have a single spice?!" Velvet nearly shouted in distress, her ears standing stiff from shock. "Not even pepper! How do you get by without ever buying pepper?!"

"By not really needing to use it." Yang shrugged as she watched her new roommate rummage through the cabinets. "That, and eating out a lot. Do you realize how cheap chinese food is? Plus, cooking is not really my thing."

"I'm fixing that. Now. And you're coming with me." The brunette said grabbing her purse from the counter and walking toward the door of the apartment.

"What do you mean, and where are we going?" The lilac eyed actress asked confused, but following nonetheless.

"We are going grocery shopping to stock your pantry. Especially since I invited everyone over after the shoot today." The brown eyed rabbit Faunus said, checking her wallet as she waited for Yang to catch up.

"Wait, what?! Why would you do that! We haven't even gotten you all the way moved in yet!" Yang burst out, her eyes wide with shock. "Hell, all that's really set up right now is your bed, and it's just lying on the ground! We haven't even put the frame together yet!"

"And all that can wait," Velvet said calmly, trying to placate the tall blonde, "Besides, we have plenty of time to finish moving me in after dinner. All the boxes are there. It's not like we'll be hungover tomorrow or be party animals all night."

"Did you invite Sun?"

"Well, he is one of your friends, right? Of course I did."

"Yeah, don't make promises you can't keep," Yang said with a shake of her head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The rabbit Faunus asked, quirking her ear questioningly.

"What it means is that we might get you all moved in tonight with everyone's help, but I wouldn't expect it to be a sober affair."

"Please, I'm just making some dinner and finger food for everyone. I wasn't even going to worry about drinks, let alone asking for help to move," Velvet said with a slight eye roll.

"You've got a lot to learn about us, Velv. For starters, if there is a party, Sun will always bring some form of alcohol," The lilac eyed actress said chuckling, "And as for the others moving you in, Ruby will probably insist on helping and, by virtue of being a set, Blake will help too. And then Weiss will pitch in, because she A, hates messes, and B, feeling obligated. Nora will try to help as well, but not really be much help, but Ren will make up for it with organization. And all the while, Sun will be handing out his drinks, mixing new ones, and gradually making the party more of a party."

Velvet stopped and turned to look Yang in the eye, quirking an eyebrow up. She was silent for a moment, as if not sure what to say. Yang met her gaze and just shrugged. "I tell it how it is, Velv. Mark my words. This is going to start as a small get together, but by the end of the night, Nora will be passed out, Ren will be watching her, Sun will be trying to get everyone to play one more round of rage cage, Weiss will be dancing to some music we might not even hear, and Ruby will have to practically carry Blake out."

A small smirk crossed Velvet's lips. "You sound pretty confident. But I noticed you left yourself out of that. Where will you be?"

"Either passed out in the bathroom or asleep under the table after who knows how many rounds of beer pong." The tall blonde said almost nonchalantly as they walked. "Y'know, that makes me wonder how Neo will handle it? You think she's a hyperactive drunk?"

Velvet took a moment to consider the question, "Nope, she'll be a giggler. And the moment you get her talking, she won't know how to stop. You, on the other hand, will get progressively louder, yet you won't really give off any other sign of being drunk until you pass that point and completely go over the edge."

"And how would you know that?" Yang asked incredulously. "Who told you about that?"

"No one," Velvet replied with a shrug. "Call it a gift, I've always been able to tell what type of drunk people are. Even before I started drinking."

"What about you? What type of drunk are you?"

"Well, I guess you'll just have to find out," Velvet said with a wink. "Now come on, we have a lot of shopping to do, and I want to start the prep work by six. It's Friday, so we won't need to worry about going too late tonight."

Yang just sighed as she followed behind her, placing her hands behind her head. "Well, you had to find out sooner or later. Might as well start on a high note. By the way, what are we eating?"

* * *

"We didn't need to do this all in one trip," Neo said, watching Weiss lift another large box.

"Trust me… It's easier… in the end," Weiss panted.

"How is this easier? You almost fell down the stairs because you couldn't see around the boxes you were carrying," Neo pressed as she leaned against a wall for support.

"Well… it's at least faster... even if it isn't… easier!" Weiss grunted, finally allowing the boxes to rest on the floor. "And we made it… Finally."

"You know I could have taken one or two of those off your hands right? All you let me touch was my suitcase," The emerald eyed woman said gesturing to her suitcase.

"Until the first months rent, technically you are my guest. And guests do not do the hard part," Weiss insisted, straightening up and pointing at Neo with the tip of her key. With a small twirl, she spun around and fit the key in the lock, and with perhaps a bit more of a grandiose gesture than necessary, she swung the door open. "Welcome home!"

Stepping into the entryway of the loft, anyone who visited the apartment would immediately be greeted by the sight of a very spacious living room and what one could only guess was a small reading nook. The right side of the first floor of the loft was taken up by a very sizable kitchen with a traditional fridge, flanked on one side by an industrial sized freezer, a large cooking area with more than enough counter space. The wall immediately to the left of the entryway was filled by a large mirror. "Where do you want me to unpack all this stuff, Weiss?"

"Let's get everything moved in, we can worry about unpacking later. Velvet said she wanted to cook for us, and I for one will welcome that," Weiss explained, punctuating her sentence with a grunt as she lifted two of the boxes from her stack. "Unfortunately, that means we have one more set of stairs."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Neo agreed, before squeezing behind Weiss. Before Weiss could argue, Neo had picked up the other two boxes, staggering a bit as she regained her balance. "Lead the way."

The actresses made the climb up, to Weiss at least, the seemingly insurmountable amount of stairs much faster than they did getting to the flat. The emerald eyed woman smirked at her new flatmate, causing the alabaster haired woman to groan, "Don't say it."

"Say what? Something along the lines of 'I told you so?' Why would I say that?"

Weiss just narrowed her eyes, before turning back to the open loft. "Just follow me, your room the first past the bathroom."

Neo couldn't help but look out off the loft into the remainder of the penthouse apartment, marveling at the view without even looking out the window. When she turned back, she had to fight back a laugh as she watch Weiss struggle with opening the door, refusing to put the boxes down. In the end, it only took four attempts before opening into an almost completely empty room, only occupied by a single bed.

"I know it isn't much, but the lease says I can do whatever I want to decorate, so we'll make it comfortable for you later. And possibly get a bigger bed."

"Right, because all four and a half feet of me will take up so much space," Neo chuckled with a smirk. "This will be fine, we have all weekend to shop around."

"I wouldn't count on tomorrow," Weiss muttered. "Yang might want a quiet night, but I know for a fact Sun is going. And I don't think I have ever been to a get together that Sun hasn't turned into a party."

"I'll keep that in mind," Neo laughed. "But in that case, I might need to borrow something to wear. All my fun clothes are in the bottom of one of these boxes, and I'm not about to start digging."

Weiss smiled at Neo before turning and walking out of the room, gesturing over her shoulder for Neo to follow. "I think I have just the thing."

* * *

"Ruby, slow down! You know I'm no good in heels!"

"That's why you need to practice! Come on, I haven't eaten since that first break today!"

"I told you to have something at home, you're the one who insisted on waiting for Velvet's cooking," Blake replied, stumbling slightly as her heel started to roll over. "DAMN IT, HOW DOES WEISS ALWAYS WEAR THESE?!"

"Good question. I saw her walk through rocks in heels once. Didn't even break stride," Ruby mused, thinking back to their college years. "I bet her closet just has a dozen different heels with different heights."

"And I'm sure all of them are white…" Blake grumbled.

"Do you want me to carry you the rest of the way to their apartment, Blakey?" The silver eyed actress asked as her girlfriend stumbled again.

"No, no, I will not be beaten by shoes," Blake insisted. Unfortunately for her, it was this moment that she stepped into a crack. Before Ruby could even react, Blake began to topple forward, a yelp of surprise escaping her lips.

"WHOA THERE!"

Seemingly out of nowhere, a large arm wrapped around Blake, keeping her from collapsing to the concrete. A small snort came from the nearby Ruby as she watched the scene, and the absurd balancing act that was taking place.

"Had to save the beer too, huh, Sun?"

"Laugh all you want, Red, but I could really use some help here," Sun grunted. He had caught Blake with one arm as he rounded the corner, caught off guard by the suddenly falling actress. Over one shoulder he supported a case of beer, and on his back was a backpack that clinked with every movement he made, clearly filled with glass bottles. What was making Sun sweat was the second case of beer, currently balanced uncomfortably on his upper back, pinning his head forward. The only thing keeping the drinks from sliding to the ground was his tail that was bent at an awkward angle against the case. "Seriously, either take your girlfriend, or take the beer. I got it for you anyways."

"One second, I just need to get this picture," Ruby laughed, holding her phone out in front of her. Once the app clicked, she let out a small smile. "Alright, I'll take both those off your hands."

Taking a step forward, Ruby presented her hand to a embarrassed Blake. Gently, she pulled her girlfriend from Sun's embrace, "That picture does not see the light of day. We clear, Kitten?" The amber eyed woman pouted.

"Sure thing, long as you can walk another hundred feet without stumbling." She challenged.

"It's already on PicTalk, isn't it?" Blake muttered.

"Hasn't posted yet, but it's waiting," Ruby laughed in response.

"Look, this is cute and all, but I still could use some help here," Sun grunted as he was fighting to pull the case of beer back into place.

Chuckling, the cat Faunus looped her tail around the case of beer and slowly slid it off the monkey Faunus' back and set it on the ground, "How's that?" She asked, still smirking.

"Much better. So, you gals know if everyone is gonna be there? Cause I did pack a lot of drinks." Sun nodded, picking up the case from the ground with his now Blake free hand.

"You said that was for us?" Blake asked, glancing at the beer Sun was carrying.

"Yeah, you remember that strawberry blonde from the sample pack last week?"

"No," replied Blake.

"Yes," chirped Ruby, a smile spreading across her lips.

"Figured as much," Sun chuckled. "Ruby really enjoyed it, and I happen to know a guy that works at the brewery. He hooked me up with a full case for half price."

"Awesome!" Ruby cheered. "How much was it?" She asked, reaching for the purse hanging over her shoulder.

"A game of beer pong," Sun laughed. "I need a challenge to open up, and there are few better than you."

"Game on," Ruby grinned back.

"Oh no, one of us at least needs to be coherent enough to walk straight. And as long as I'm in these stilts, Kitten, that's means you!" Blake cut in, smiling a little at the pout that crossed Ruby's face.

"I'm sorry, but who was it that got halfway through a glass of wine last week before giggling like a schoolgirl all night? No matter what we do, I need to be the sober one. Not like its that hard."

"Just don't get sucked in again, otherwise we won't be able to leave the couch," Blake warned.

"Relax," Sun added. "Tonight we play by house rules, and you know Yang says if you don't want to drink on the hits, you don't have to. Not that that will stop me."

"Never does," Ruby laughed before wrapping an arm around Blake. "But nothing will happen if we stand here all night. Shall we?"

"Let's," Sun agreed as the trio turned to continue down the road, Sun's backpack clinking the entire way.

* * *

"Rennnnnnn," Nora whined. "Why did you make us take the bus? Now we're lateeeeee."

"Because you know as well as I do you won't be in any shape to drive us home tonight."

"That's why you should get a licence!" Nora pressed on.

"Why? I can walk or take the bus everywhere I go."

"But you should drive!" Nora insisted. "That way, we don't have to pay fifteen dollars for a Ryder every night."

"Nora, you know I drink too," Ren replied flatly as the duo came to a stop at a door.

"But you handle it so well! I bet you can do fine."

"Yeah, this is all a bad idea," Ren said with a shake of his head. He pressed the buzzer beside the door, and before he even let go, the door clicked open and Yang's voice crackled over the speaker.

"Come on in!" She shouted. "Velvet is just taking the last of it out of the oven!"

"And you were worried we'd be late. Come on, you first, Nora." He said, holding the door open the rest of the way.

"I'm mixing your first drink, Renny! And for having us take the bus, it'll be a strong one!" The ginger replied with a smirk, as she walked past him and into the apartment complex.

"Is it ever not," Ren muttered.

As Nora threw open the door to Velvet and Yang's apartment, what she and Ren were met with was a fairly full house and a flurry of activity. Music poured out of relatively high quality speakers mounted around the apartment, filling the place with welcoming melodies. Most of the guests were in the living room, the ginger haired woman could see Neo gushing about the size of Weiss' walk in closet.

"I'm serious! I've lived in apartments that were smaller!" The brunette exclaimed, spreading her arms wide as though it could provide some inkling of vastness she had seen. "A full size mirror in the back, tiered rotating shelves for shoes, and more hanging space than I have ever seen! I could get lost in there."

"We know, Neo, Yang has," Ruby laughed, elbowing her sister in the side.

"One time, and you all know that I was matching Sun shot for shot," Yang defended herself as she took another sip of her drink.

"That was your idea!" Sun called from across the room, where a table was set up, and a piece of plywood was laid across it. "Won't be a problem tonight. Beer pong will be good to go in 10."

"Right, because that always ends well," Blake said with a chuckle as she twisted around in her spot on the couch. A tv was showing a Soundify playlist of what was to come in front of her. Without having to move, she slapped Ruby on the leg to get her attention. "And if I remember right, that was the night you got stuck in the bean bag chair and decided you would try to live there."

"One time! It's not my fault I was comfy, that thing is like a living room sized marshmallow! And besides, you weren't much better. I remember carrying you out to the Ryder we called to pick us up!" The cat Faunus replied with a slight pout.

"Only because no one else burns off alcohol faster than you, Kitten. That, and I still can't get you to drive. One of these days I will, though," The raven haired woman remarked, as she pulled her onto the couch by wrapping her arms around the cat Faunus's waist.

"Blake, wait, my drink!" She shouted in a panic, barely managing to pass the plastic cup to Yang before tumbling over the back of the couch. She lay there and stared and Blake, a pout on her face as she crossed her arms. "You could have at least warned me."

"No fun in that, Kitten," Blake winked before leaning in and giving a light kiss.

"Not on the couch, you two!" Yang teased as Nora and Ren joined them, holding cups of their own.

"Please don't destroy the apartment I JUST moved in to!" Velvet called from the kitchen. "Especially before I can join all of you! Just wait for 5 minutes!"

"Seems like everyone is here, except Jaune and Pyrrha. Did they have something come up?" Ren asked as he looked around the apartment.

"Yes, Jaune pulled the short straw and needed to help with keeping an eye on his sisters, and Pyrrha was locked in her apartment going over her lines. She said something about wanting them to be perfect." Weiss answered, chuckling slightly as her new roommate continued to rave about the closet to a half listening Velvet.

"And there was a makeup station too! She had more shades of eyeshadow than I knew existed! Most of them blue, but still!" Neo exclaimed, still wide-eyed at the experience. Weiss had barely managed to drag the excitable woman out of her closet after finding her suitable clothes. It helped that they were both fairly similar sizes, although she almost had too many options to choose from. Neo had decided to keep it simple in the end, a pair of black jeans, a white blouse, and white and blue high heels.

"Game time!" Sun called out, interrupting everyone's conversations. "House rule, all new party members MUST play first game!"

"Must be psychic, Sun. The hors d'oeuvres are served!" Velvet declared, stepping out from behind the counter. "We have a nice spinach dip to use a snack through the night, excuse me for using bagged chips. The stir fry is vegetarian and there is a side of quinoa. I also have a pull apart garlic bread pizza for everyone to work on."

"NICE!" Sun exclaimed, stepping up to the spread laid out on the counter. "I am so calling you for my team. Yang, you get the closet girl."

"THAT'S NEO TO YOU, BOOM HAND!" The short woman shouted in reply. "Just for that, loser gets the heaviest box!"

Velvet's eyes widened at the challenge before she grabbed onto Sun's shirt sleeve. "Sun, you better bring your A-game. I am NOT carrying that box if I can help it."

"Can I ask what is in said box?" Weiss inquired as she walked over to the counter and broke off a piece of the pizza bread.

"I may use quite a few different cast iron skillets, a full wok, and I ran out of space to put my dumbells. Then I put that box in the front of the U-haul because I almost died carrying it down the stairs. Turns out all the heaviest things in one box don't balance out very well." The rabbit Faunus shrugged as she grabbed a helping of the stir fry.

"W-Why do you need all that?" Ren asked surprised.

"Cast iron is great for cooking, as is a wok. The dumbells are what I used to get in shape when I didn't have access to gyms." She informed them.

"If you've been using dumbells to stay in shape, then you and me are gonna need to have an arm wrestling match at some point!" Nora challenged.

"You and I," Ren corrected idly while serving himself a chip of spinach dip.

"Nora, I rather like keeping my shoulder in its socket. But I'll tell you what. If I lose this match, but you carry that box for me, you'll have your match. Otherwise, you'll need to get me at least 4 drinks in before I'm in a mood for arm wrestling." The rabbit Faunus said.

"DEAL!" Nora agreed, clearly not caring which method it took to get her match.

"Ladies, ladies, we can worry about all this later," Sun interrupted, tossing a ping pong ball in one hand. "First things first, we got some beer pong to play! Yang, get your teammate to STOP TALKING ABOUT THAT CLOSET!"

"Ah man... She was just getting to the sliding door with the rotating jewelry tree!" Ruby called back, purposely egging Neo on as there were parts of the closet that even she had never laid eyes on.

Blake gave her hand small squeeze, "Think of it this way, Ruby, if she gets drunk enough Neo might not stop talking about it period."

"Oh, in that case, go have fun!" Ruby said with a wave. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Ok, ok, fine. Let's get this going then," Neo reluctantly agreed as Yang started to forcefully pull her over.

"Sun, house rules," Yang called out as she started to prepare a water cup and handed it to Neo.

"OK!" Sun shouted excitedly. "Start off with eye to eye shots. Across the table, newest players shoot first, staring at their opponent only. First team to make the shot is the first team to shoot. Both teammates make it, balls back. Both in the same cup, counts as three and balls back. Ring of fire is on, two re-racks allowed. Balls that bounce are double, but swat-able. Balls that come back must be returned with a trick shot. New players may blow on spinners to get them out before they touch, vets must pick them with one finger. Other than that, you must finish the drink before your shot."

Neo's eyes gradually widened as Sun went on and she tried to keep up with all the terms. Yang nudged her in the side and winked, mouthing she would explain when it came up. Velvet, on the other hand, simply nodded at each thing Sun said, and a devilish grin spread across her lips as he went on. When he finished, she let out a soft chuckle before tossing the ping pong ball in the water cup.

"You play too nice," Velvet joked. "No bitch cup or penalty shots? And ring of fire is on? Please tell me you at least give them a chance for rebuttal."

It was now Yang's turn to let her eye widen in shock. She shot Sun a glare, but noticed that his jaw had fallen open as well. She turned back to Velvet, pointing a finger across the table, and almost shouting, "Vet rules for you from now on."

Velvet just shrugged before taking her place at the end of the table. "I'll assume that's a yes for rebuttal. You ready Neo?"

Neo just shared a confused look with Yang, who just shrugged and said, "Stare her in the eyes and take the shot. Either way, we're probably screwed."

Yang wasn't far off. Right away, Velvet made the lead cup of the pyramid laid out in front of Neo while Neo struck Sun in the chest. The smirk didn't leave Velvet's lips as she received the ball back, and made the exact same shot, nudging Sun and nodding towards the back left corner of the pyramid. An evil grin spread across Sun's face as he realized that Velvet was going straight for the throat. He lined up and lazily tossed the ball, which sunk in his target cup.

Yang groaned and pulled the cups off to the side, rolling the balls across the table. She started drinking the beer in the cup while handing off the other to Neo. But before Yang even put the cup down, she heard the distinct sound of plastic striking plastic and two more balls landed in two more cups. She peeked around the edge of the cup in her hand to see her nightmare. The last corner had been made, as well as the center cup of the third line.

That damn ring of fire.

"Damn ringer," Yang muttered shooting Velvet a glare. "How much of this have you played?"

"College friends loved the game," Velvet said with a wicked grin. "Granted, we just played with water, but still, you learn how to go hard when you have nothing to lose. Now, you going to rebut, or just call it good there? You have quite a bit of drinking to do either way."

"Hey Renny, can you pass me the pizza bread?" Nora asked as Yang and Neo started on the first of their cups, "I think things are just starting to get good!"

Passing her a plate of the fingerfood, Ren replied, "It seems that way, wouldn't have taken Velvet to be much of a beer pong enthusiast. Let's just hope they don't go overboard."

"Y'know I'd do fine if I joined them. But I've still got to mix you a drink, so I guess I can wait till they're done and I have access to all the booze I'll need." The ginger haired woman grinned.

"Something tells me I'll be carrying you home again, Nora." The pinked eyed man mused as he arched an eyebrow at her.

"You know you don't mind it." She replied, her smile growing a little more.

"You're right, I don't." He agreed, before stealing a piece of the pizza bread from her plate, and giving her a light peck on the nose when she pouted, causing her to redden slightly.

It took Yang and Neo nearly 10 minutes to finish off the beer before them, and Neo was already starting to stumble when she put the last cup down. Needless to say, when she took her first shot, it didn't quite make it, shooting far over the edge of the table. Yang, however, was able to make a small comeback, making three cups before she bounced her fourth shot off a rim. Velvet smirked as she easily tipped her head back and drank the beer from her cup as though it were water.

"Then again," Velvet added. "My friends always did say, I got better the more I drank."

Yang only glared across the table for a moment, before a wicked grin spread across her lips. "Well, house rule is that losers pick the next game. Hey, Sun, could you set up a game of rage cage?"

Sun's eyes widened for a moment before he matched Yang's grin. "Absolutely." He then looked over across the room and called out, "Hey Rose! Drag that wannabe faunus over, its time to rage!"

"It's called stack cup and you know it!" Blake shouted back, absentmindedly allowing herself to be dragged to the table by an excited Ruby.

"No matter what you call it, with those two, it's nothing more than a trap," Weiss muttered, glaring at Yang as she reluctantly took her place at the table.

"Oh, you're just mad that you can't make it first try, even when it's only one cup," Sun chortled, filling a jumble of cups at the center of the table.

"I'm sorry, what is this?" Velvet asked, confusion clear in her eyes.

"Rage cage, stack cup, drunk in the middle. Whatever you call it, it's straight forward. Cups start on opposite ends. Take the ping pong ball, bounce it once and into your cup. Make it first try, and it can go anywhere you want on the table. If the cup reaches the point where it is right behind you and it is made before you make yours, they stack it. Pass the cup, take a new one, chug, and start bouncing," Sun explained, setting up the last cup and passing an empty cup across the table to Yang.

"What he's not telling you," Blake added, giving Sun a playful smack, "Is that we had to house rule these two to stand at opposite ends of the table at all times."

"Only because Weiss ended up drinking every single cup in one game," Yang cut in indignantly. "We were killing it that day."

"And you nearly killed me," Weiss countered. "Sun, did you add the death cup?"

"Of course I did, frosty," Sun answered, showing a small handful of empty single shot liquors. "Little bit of Three Grapes vodka, Horny liquor, and a splash of Dan Jackson whiskey. Good luck to the poor fool who finds it first."

"Joy," Velvet muttered, eyeing the cluster of cups wearily. "Should we get this started then?"

"Not yet," Sun laughed, tossing a can of beet across the table to Velvet. She looked around and realized each person had one of their own, and most had a set of keys or something sharp out.

"One last house rule. Before the first rage of the night, comes the first shotgun of the night. And as this is a welcoming party of sorts, you and Neo get the honors of leading us in the charge."

Velvet and Neo glanced at each other, shrugged, and in one motion, punched holes in their beer cans, tilted back their heads, and let the games begin.

* * *

Steady beats played all around the apartment, accompanied by occasional laughter and eager conversations.

Two people danced in the center of the room, their bodies easily rolling with the music. Two more sat snuggled next to each other on the couch, idly watching the two women enjoy the rhythm of the music.

A sudden bright flash brought them blinking out of their relaxed state, blinking the stars out of their eyes. "Owwwww…" Ruby moaned, rubbing one eye with her free hand. "Velvet, what was that?"

"Sorrrry," Velvet laughed with a slight slur. "You two were just sooo cute together, I had to get the picture."

Blake moaned lightly, burying her head into Ruby's shoulder, escaping from the bright lights surrounding her. Velvet, seeing her opportunity, quickly lifted her phone and snapped another picture, earning a lazy wave from Blake. Ruby, on the other hand, smiled lightly and mouthed 'send that to me,' before closing her eyes and laying her head against Blake's. Velvet, taking the hint, left the couple alone as Ruby rubbed small circles into Blake's back.

Moments later, she was taking pictures of the dancers Weiss and Neo, who paid her no mind as they allowed the music to dominate their lives. Velvet was about to take another picture when she felt a heavy arm fall across her shoulders.

"VELVET," Yang nearly shouted as she stumbled into her new roommate. "Velvet, are you feel.. Feeling better yet?"

Velvet laughed, returning the gesture by placing her arm over Yang's shoulder. "Yang, I've been fine for the past couple hours, you can stop asking."

"I just… I just have never seen anyone, AND I MEAN ANYONE… react to the death cup quite like that."

"What can I say?" Velvet laughed. "Whisky does not agree with me."

As Weiss and Neo were dancing, both were fairly oblivious to the other occupants in the apartment, they had gone through a few different dances over the last few hours, though the music had turned slower and, following suit, the pair of ice cream fanatics had started a slow waltz.

"Y'know it's not every day a pretty girl insists that I dance with them. Hhmm...definitely a sweeeet treat." Neo slurred slightly as she rested her head on Weiss' shoulder, oblivious the blush that was forming on the cheeks of her white haired dance partner.

"I, uhhh, thanks? I mean it's been a while since I've danced so yeah, this...this is nice." She stuttered, her mind still hazy from the drinks. "Most of the time I end up begging one of the others just to do basic dancing, let alone this."

"Well...it takes two to tango. And you really shooowed me that you can tango." Neo said, lifting her head and giving her a small smile, though her eyes were a little glazed and half lidded.

"JUST SHUT UP AND KISSSS!" Came the shout of a drunk Sun, as he stumbled out of the bathroom.

"Just as soon as you kiss Yang!" Weiss shouted back, earning a giggle from both Neo and Ruby.

"WE'RE ABOUT AS...likely to kiss as Ren is to get up the nerve to propose to Nora." Yang chimed in with a stumble, giving both Ren and Nora, who were sharing a chair, a good natured smile. They both knew she meant nothing by it. Nora, none-the-less, saw the opportunity.

"Yeahhhhh. Ren, when you gonna put… put… put a ring on it?" Nora giggled, hiccups interrupting her train of thought.

Ren smiled in turn, poking Nora lightly in the head. "I told you, as soon as we can do more than survive paycheck to paycheck."

"But we're gonna be famous!" Nora laughed. "All of us! Weiss, and Ruby, and Blake, and Yang, and even Sun! Everyone here! We're going to blow them all away!"

Ruby raised a half empty beer into the air, laughing as she cheered, "I'll drink to that!"

With a clatter of furniture and a thump, Yang had managed to climb onto the kitchen table, raising her drink, "HERE'S TO THE...THE CAST AND CREW OF RWBY! LET'S HELP SHOW...SHOW THE WORLD WHAT REN CREATED!"

"AND BECOME FAMOUS!" Nora added, causing a round of laughter before hearty agreement.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Peace: It would be nice to be famous.**

 **Phoenix: Yes, yes it would be. I actually needed to let Peace go full ham with the beer pong, while I drink I don't make a game of it.**

 **Peace: Boring. And you never even heard of rage cage either, you uncultured swine.**

 **Phoenix: Indeed. I also couldn't resist making the Renora interactions fluffy or having Neo be a flirty drunk, those needed to be pretty much mandatory.**

 **Peace: Literally. He tried to bribe me with food. We don't even live in the same state.**

 **Phoenix: Is it really bribery if said food doesn't exist?**

 **Peace: See, that's called lying, and you are a bad person.**

 **Phoenix: Eh, anyway it's fairly obvious now as to what two of the planned ships are that will be worked toward. The third one however… Well, that one is gonna be interesting.**

 **Peace: Find out next time, when we definitely don't tell you. We're gonna dragonball this all the way.**

 **Phoenix: Only without the six hours of steroid fueled screaming.**

 **Peace: At least, not on screen. Don't question my methods. But, either way, we hope you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to review or pm us to share any thoughts. And hopefully, we see you next time! Peace!**


End file.
